Extended and Safe Support with the CentriMag® Temporary Ventricular Assist Device Implanted with Skirted-Cannula Technique.

Objectives: CentriMag® (Abbott, Pleasanton, CA, USA) is indicated for temporary circulatory support for up to 30 days. Extended support is not uncommon, and the results vary considerably. Herein, we review our experience on extended support. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 19 patients supported with CentriMag as a bridge to recovery, long-term ventricular assist device or transplantation from September 2011 to October 2021. Results: Nineteen patients (16 men and 3 women; mean age 51.7 ± 9.2 years) had CentriMag left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation with the skirted-cannula technique. Twelve (63.2%), 6 (31.6%), and 1 (5.3%) patient were in INTERMACS 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The aims of support were bridge-to-decision in 3 patients (15.8%), and bridge-to-transplantation in 16 patients (84.2%). Fourteen patients were supported for longer than 30 days, while 5 patients had their CentriMag removed before 30 days. Of the 5 patients supported for less than 30 days, 3 died early after implantation due to complications of prolonged shock. The other 2 patients were successfully transplanted. Among the 14 patients supported for longer than 30 days, 1 patient died after transplantation and 13 patients survived either after transplantation or weaning off CentriMag. The overall 1-year survival rate was 73.7%. The duration of support for all patients ranged from 6 to 191 days (64 ± 61 days; median 41 days). Conclusions: The skirted cannula technique for apical cannulation in implantation of CentriMag LVAD is an easy, safe and durable technique. Immediate post-operative and long-term complications are not common. Its use over 30 days is associated with acceptable survival.

Skirted Cannula Technique for Apical Cannulation in Implantation of Centrimag Left Ventricular Assist Device.

The CentriMag, an extracorporeal short-term ventricular assist device designed for treatment of patients with acute cardiogenic shock, is Conformité Européenne-marked in Europe for use up to 30 days. Extended use beyond the licensed period is not uncommon, however. We have developed a skirted cannula technique for apical cannulation in implantation of the Centrimag. This technique allows easy positioning of the cannula and excellent hemostasis. It also offers secure fixation of the cannula so that patients can ambulate and attend rehabilitation programs should extended use be anticipated.

Cardiac Myxoma With Unusual Obstructive and Embolic Presentations: Concurrent Stroke and Angiography-Negative Myocardial Infarction--A Case Report.

We present a case of cardiac myxoma with atypical presentations of concurrent stroke and angiography-negative myocardial infarction. The case emphasizes the importance of basic echocardiography and timely surgery in the management of cardiac myxoma. An elderly woman presented to the emergency department in an unconscious state. Electrocardiogram and elevated cardiac enzymes suggested acute myocardial infarction; however, immediate coronary angiography proved patency. Basic echocardiography revealed an oscillating left atrial myxoma obstructing inflow through the mitral valve. After regaining consciousness while in the intensive care unit, the patient developed respiratory distress and shock, and emergent en bloc resection was performed. Ataxia was noted in her postoperative course and multiple small cerebellar infarcts were found on magnetic resonance imaging. After a 1-month period of rehabilitation, the patient recovered well and continues to be followed as an outpatient. Cardiac myxoma requires timely management and may be missed if not included in the differential diagnoses. Basic echocardiography, also called focused cardiac ultrasound, may aid in the diagnosing of perplexing cardiac cases.

Gemella sanguinis endocarditis: first case report in Taiwan and review of the literature.

We describe a case of infective endocarditis of the native aortic valve due to Gemella sanguinis in a 67-year-old Taiwanese man who had pre-existent valvular heart disease. He was successfully treated with aortic valve replacement accompanying a 6-week intravenous antibiotic treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of G sanguinis endocarditis in Taiwan.

Challenging carotid intervention after total arch rerouting and hybrid zone 0 elephant trunk repair for a complicated type A aortic dissection.

PURPOSE: To report a challenging carotid intervention after total arch rerouting and hybrid zone 0 elephant trunk repair. CASE REPORT: A 54-year-old man developed symptomatic left carotid artery restenosis 2 weeks after total arch rerouting and hybrid zone 0 elephant trunk repair for acute retrograde type A aortic dissection with left carotid malperfusion. Because the origins of the 3 supra-aortic branches were already transected and rerouted to the proximal end of the reconstructed ascending aortic graft, the peripheral access routes for carotid intervention were deemed difficult, with little chance of success due to acute angles between these rerouted supra-aortic branches and the ascending aortic graft. Emergent carotid artery stenting was therefore performed via sternal reentry with successful restoration of cerebral perfusion. CONCLUSION: Total arch rerouting, facilitating hybrid endovascular repair for extensive thoracic aortic disease, creates an extremely deformed arch anatomy that renders subsequent carotid intervention a challenging task.

Surgical Treatment of Castleman Disease Using Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

UNLABELLED: Castleman disease is a rare benign lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology. A 29-year-old woman presented with intermittent chest pain for 2 years. Upon examination, computed tomography showed an intensely enhanced solid mass that encased her right pulmonary artery. The tumor was resected safely and completely via standard thoracotomy with cardiopulmonary bypass. KEY WORDS: Castleman disease; Middle mediastinal tumor; Surgery.

Ectopic and atretic ostium of left main coronary artery: from interleaflet triangle between left and noncoronary cusps.

Left main coronary artery atresia is an extremely rare coronary anomaly in which there is no left coronary ostium and the left main trunk ends blindly. Ectopic origin of the left coronary artery from the left ventricle is an even rarer condition. Herein, we describe the case of a 37-year-old woman whose left main coronary artery atresia was not corrected during previous surgical correction of patent ductus arteriosus and aortic insufficiency. Five years after that first operation, the patient developed severe angina and heart failure. She underwent coronary artery bypass grafting with greater saphenous vein directly to the left main coronary artery trunk, along with associated procedures. The operative findings revealed an ectopic and atretic ostium of the left main coronary artery from the interleaflet triangle between the left and noncoronary cusps, which we believe is a specific congenital coronary anomaly.

Congenital atresia of the left main coronary artery associated with patent ductus arteriosus and aortic regurgitation.

Congenital left main coronary artery (LMCA) atresia is a rare anomaly and surgical revascularization is recommended once the diagnosis is confirmed. In some cases, LMCA atresia will coexist with other cardiac anomalies, mostly in pediatric patients. A 32-year-old woman had congenital LMCA atresia associated with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), aortic regurgitation (AR), and moderate pulmonary hypertension. The PDA and AR were repaired surgically and the patient's symptoms improved. Coronary revascularization was not performed because the LCA was supplied by 2 large conus arteries, as "naturally occurring" bypass arteries. The patient remained asymptomatic at the 2.5-year follow-up visit. Given the positive outcome in this patient, surgical repair of the associated cardiac defect without coronary revascularization may be a reasonable approach for patients with congenital LMCA atresia, in which the left coronary arterial tree is supplied by other "naturally occurring" bypass arteries.

The potential impact of primary percutaneous coronary intervention on ventricular septal rupture complicating acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Recent data suggest that the risk of acquired ventricular septal defect (VSD), a complication of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), could be reduced using thrombolytic therapy. There are, however, still no available data regarding the potential impact of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on AMI-related VSD in a clinical setting. The purposes of this study were to delineate the incidence and the potential risk factors of AMI-related VSD in the Chinese population, and to determine whether primary PCI could reduce such risk. METHODS AND RESULTS: From May 1993 through March 2003, a total of 1,321 patients with AMI (for < 12 h) underwent primary PCI in our hospital. Of these 1,321 patients, 3 patients (0.23%) developed VSD after undergoing a primary PCI, with a mean (+/- SD) time of occurrence of 25.3 +/- 12.2 h. During the same period, a total of 616 consecutive, unselected patients with early AMI [ie, > 12 h and < or = 7 days] or recent myocardial infarction (MI) [ie, > or = 8 days and < 30 days] who had not received thrombolytic therapy underwent elective PCI. Of these 616 patients, 18 (2.9%) had VSD either on presentation or during hospitalization, with a mean time of occurrence of 71.1 +/- 64.2 h. Clinical variables were utilized to statistically analyze the potential risk factors. Univariate analysis demonstrated that the enrollment variables strongly related to this complication were advanced age, hypertension, nonsmokers, anterior infarction, female gender, and lower body mass index (BMI) [all p < 0.005]. Using multiple stepwise logistic regression analysis, the only variables independently related to VSD were advanced age, female gender, anterior infarction, and low BMI (all p < 0.05). The in-hospital mortality rate was significantly higher in patients with this complication than in patients without this complication (47.6% vs 8.0%; p < 0.0001). The incidence of this complication was significantly lower in patients with AMI who underwent primary PCI than in those with early or recent MI who underwent elective PCI (3.0% vs 0.23%, respectively; p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Primary PCI had a striking impact on reducing the incidence of VSD after AMI compared to elective PCI in patients who did not receive thrombolytic therapy. Advanced age, female gender, anterior infarction, and low BMI had potentially increased the risk of this catastrophic complication after AMI in this Chinese population.

Recurrent Klebsiella pneumoniae mycotic aneurysm in a diabetic patient and emergence of an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (CTX-M-24)-containing Klebsiella pneumoniae strain after prolonged treatment with first-generation cephalosporins for mycotic aneurysm.

A 68-year-old diabetic woman suffered from mycotic aneurysm due to Klebsiella pneumoniae over her abdominal aorta; she received surgical intervention, followed by treatment with first-generation cephalosporins for 6 months. She was hospitalized again 11 months later because of another episode of mycotic aneurysm caused by K. pneumoniae on her thoracic aorta. Fingerprinting generated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and infrequent-restriction-site polymerase indicated K. pneumoniae isolates of the identical clonal strain were responsible for these two mycotic-aneurysm episodes. Unfortunately, nosocomial pneumonia developed at the second hospitalization; blood and purposefully sampled feces specimen cultures both grew CTX-M-24-producing K. pneumoniae, which were of the same strain and genetically nonrelated to the K. pneumoniae strain causing mycotic aneurysms earlier. This is the first report on infection due to CTX-M-24-producing K. pneumoniae. It is unclear whether the prolonged use of first-generation cephalosporins in this case selected a strain of enteric organism possessing the ESBL in question, which was capable of passing this ESBL plasmid to the K. pneumoniae strain causing the nosocomial infection. This report suggests that further observation is needed before one can draw a conclusion on the possibility of the selection of ESBL enteric organism by extensive exposure to first-generation cephalosporins.

Large extracranial vertebral aneurysm with absent contralateral vertebral artery.

The extracranial segment of the vertebral artery is well protected, and the rate of occurrence of extracranial vertebral aneurysms is very low. We describe the case of a 40-year-old woman who presented with a large aneurysm of the left vertebral artery in the angiographic absence of a right vertebral artery. Her medical history included a motorcycle accident at the age of 20, at which time a neck sprain had been diagnosed. Computed tomography of the chest and neck revealed a 6- x 4-cm aneurysm with mural thrombus in the left thoracic outlet and in the first portion of the left vertebral artery before the entrance of the transverse foramen of the 6th cervical vertebra. Angiography of the arch vessels confirmed both the presence of an aneurysm of the left vertebral artery and the absence of a right vertebral artery. Due to the lack of contralateral vertebral flow, we planned to perform a graft interposition under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, for cerebral protection. Unfortunately, the patient refused the operation and was lost to follow-up. To our knowledge, there has been no previous report of an extracranial vertebral artery aneurysm in the absence of a contralateral vertebral artery. We believe that deep hypothermic circulatory arrest with graft interposition is the best treatment strategy, although we did not, in this case, have opportunity to treat the patient.

Conduit-on-valve replacement of a degenerated mitral bioprosthesis with a bioprosthesis.

Explantation of a degenerated mitral bioprosthesis with reimplantation of a new bioprosthesis is time-consuming and can be associated with several life-threatening complications. We developed a technique to simplify this procedure and avoid the complications by attaching a new bioprosthesis supported by a pericardium-covered Dacron tube to the intact stent.

Aortic root pseudoaneurysm following surgery for aortic valve endocarditis.

Prosthetic aortic valve replacement for aortic valve endocarditis remains a primary practice of most cardiac surgeons. Usually it cures endocarditis and restores cardiac function. However, in advanced aortic valve endocarditis with complex annular destruction, complications following prosthetic aortic valve replacement do occur and present a formidable challenge for reoperation. Herein, we describe a case of an adult man who was operated on initially for advanced aortic valve endocarditis with a large periannular abscess cavity and who developed congestive heart failure 3 months later. Furthermore, he was diagnosed with a giant pseudoaneurysm around the aortic root without evidence of recurrent infection or aortic prosthetic incompetence. During his reoperation, a cryopreserved aortic homograft as a root replacement that included reimplantation of bilateral coronary artery buttons was used to exteriorize this pseudoaneurysm and reconstruct a left ventricular outflow tract. The postoperative course was unremarkable, and the patient, during a follow-up of 2 years, remained in New York Heart Association functional class I. Aortic root pseudoaneurysm following prosthetic aortic valve replacement for infective endocarditis is rare in clinical practice and can cause rapid hemodynamic deterioration which requires imminent reoperation. Homograft aortic root replacement has proven to be a versatile treatment option of this complex disease.

Safety and effectiveness of minimal-access versus conventional coronary artery bypass grafting in emergent patients.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial revascularization with a minimal-access incision is used in many patients who undergo an elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) operation. To evaluate whether this method could be used for patients who undergo an emergent CABG operation, we compared patients in whom emergent minimal-access CABG was used as the method of revascularization with patients who underwent emergent conventional CABG. METHODS: From June 1996 to April 1998, 63 patients underwent emergent CABG operation due to unstable angina, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty accident, or critical left main lesion. Ten patients received minimal-access CABG via limited left parasternal incision (MI), and 53 patients received conventional CABG via median sternotomy (CS). RESULTS: There were 2 deaths in the MI group and 13 deaths in the CS group. We used the Society of Thoracic Surgery computer program to predict the mortality of both groups. The expected hospital mortality of the MI group was significant higher than that of the CS group. The 24-hour drainage amount in the MI group was significant less than that of the CS group. There were no significant differences in cross-clamping time, the duration of extracorporeal circulation, the intensive care unit stay, or the average hospital stay. Total costs of the MI group were similar to those of the CS group, except that the blood transfusion fee was significantly lower (9,406 +/- 1,259 vs. 12,059+ 3,994 New Taiwan dollars, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: This technique combines minimally invasive surgical conditions with the safety and cost standards of emergent CABG surgery. Even emergent and high-risk coronary artery disease can be treated using this approach.